Shoe-tree



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O. -J. HOWE SHOE TREE Filed July 21. 1921 I [77 we a? View" 9 FLUW J2 Zia/2 we.

afima weya MM sigma V splitfore part spreads'upon the swingingeat-ran s r .A pplication filed July 21, 1921.? Serial No. 48 ,419.

Fat-m3 OLIVER E EeaQe r-Qa,

" COMJBANY, reoemea Messeefiusms aasseemssr s teemoe o A N a e qea oaawre 01 MA$SAGEUSETT$ isnonrnnnf T 0 zllywhom it mag concern; H Be it linowntthat I, Graven .J. Hown, a cltizen of the United States, res dlng at Broclrton in the count or O a V otate oi Massachusetts,

tain new and. useful Improve Plym uth and have invented .ceri

ments in Shoe Trees, of which the 'tollowjing is especification. V

- This invention relates to improvements {in shoe trees.

lowers or forms adapted for More especially it relates to 01- use by makers,

merchants and consumers, during 'manufad ture, display as periodsof wearthe prov1s1on of merchandise, and between It has among its objects a simple and inexpenslye yet good construction of shoe tree whose of the heel part into "the shoe, and contracts when the heel part is withclr awn, combined with means wherebythese parts may fit different lengths or shoes.

The invention provides lengthwise into sections a fore part split hinged together near the toe, and connected operably together and to the heel, near their rear ends, by

a T-joint, comprising a tubular pivot .cnossing the plane of cleavage, and iournalled in the wood. This tube has a short helical slot in each end portion, into. which apin projects from the wood.

Upon the pivot being rotated these slotsv act as cams to move the pins along the axis of the"p1vot and so to spread the sections,

or contract them. This rotation occurs automatically whenever the heel ball, on the leg of the 'i', is swung into or out of the shoe.

One embodiment of the lnventlonis 1llustrated in the accompanying is intended drawings.

that the. patent shall cover, by

suitable expression in the appended. claims, whatever features of patentable novelty exist in the invention disclosed.

' 1n the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan, viewedv from the bottom accordance with l -Co1np.lete sep ra-t'io of he latte o the section on line of a portion of the tree,

ig. 2; and

Referring to the drawings, the fore part comprises the hinged together near their by a transverse cord 14: hel

separated sections 10 and '12 forward ends (1 in a hole in ,tion a cylindrical section. from the medial cleft 20 at right this may Holes 27 may also be stamped out of the "flat plate, at predetermined points extended each section by a pill 16. 'as"th e :sections may move to and from parallelism. Near the rear end or each sechole 18 extends into the angles to that cleit, and houses one end ot' a .tube' -22 which extends crossways from one fore part section-to the other with loose fit, xaggerated in the drawings for elearness. These 1 .01. 5 11 merely bored into- .each sec lion perpenc'licularly. The tube 'may be rolled up from a piece of flat metal, shown so in Fig. l, in which slots 24: and 2-6 have been punched at an inclination toeach other .So that, when the sheet is bent into tubular iorm,,these slots will converge toward a plane at right angles to the axis of the shell, or be ordinary tubing with saw cuts.

on the same center l'ne so that when-the plate is rolled into cylindrical form, these holes, will be opposite each other in the shell. A pin 28, which may be an ordinary wire nail, is set in each fore part and passes through one of the slots into the hollow of the tube, sub

The cord bends stantially perpendicular to it axis of rotation. This arrangement of the pins and slots causes the sections to move together or apart, as the tube is rotated, the sides of the slots acting as cam faces on the pins.

The connection to the heel part 34 comprises an extensible rod 30 threaded trans its middle at right angles to the tubes axis of rotation, the end of the rod terminating flush with the outside of the tube. The other end ofthis rod is a plunger sliding within .a' tube 32, to which the heel part 34: is secured. Within the tube 3E2 is a spring 36 acting to push out the end of the plunger 30, and thus tending to keep the heel part from the fore part, but limited in its effect by a pin 38 set in the side of the plunger .within a slot 40 in the tube 32.

plunger is prevented by the pin meeting the end of the slot. Thus the fore sections and the heel are connected by a sort of T -joint, one part being on each limb of the T. The head of the T keeps the sections side by side, at the same time permitting their separation and approach; the leg is a handle for turning the head on the line of the head as an axis; and the turning in 'uersely through the holes 27 of the tube at either direction varies the distance apart of the fore sections, and occurs with eachswing.

t the heel into and out of the shoe.

In operation the heel part being raised.

part is then swung downward into the heel of the shoe, the spring 36 being compressed iitnecessaii" to shorten the overall length and Jl'mit the heel )art 3% inset in;

the heel part swings downward into the shoe 'the'cam action of the helical slots in the,

tubular pivot spreads the sections of the fore part until these sections: press hrnily outward on th-einterior of the shoe, keeping the vamp filled out as though by" the st'oot of thewearer. In case thespread of'thc fore parts, which would be thus attainei'l, is greater-than the widthto which the shoe can comfortably stretch, the fore part of the tree as a whole may slip rearward within the shoe, the spring 36 compressing an addi tional amount to allow this retraction of the fore part. This feature prevents any excessive pressure against the walls of the shoe by the fore part and eliminates the danger of splitting the leather, which has hitherto been a Weakness in this particular form of tree, wherethe spreading has been positive in a sidewise direction with no provision for lengthwise displacement to allow the form to adjust itself to theshoe.

I claim: a h i v 1. A three-block shoe tree comprising-two fore blocks which together constitute a tore- 7 part, separated by a longitudinal cleft and hinged together at the toe; the third block, constituting the heel part and located at a distance from the fore-part; an extensibleleg T-shaped junction member for the three blocks; and a' pin driven throughthe wood of each fore blockinto the head of the T- V the leg of the T rigidly attached to the heel and running into the cleft of the forepart to the head of the T; and the head of the T being set loosely in socket holes sunk transversely in the fore blocks and havingcain slots in which the pins engage, holding the whole together with the T capable of limited swing around its saidhead.

2. A shoe tree comprising in combination a forepartdivided longitudinally into sections, hingedtoget-her at the toe; aheel part at a distance therefrom; and a T-juncplunger ward from thecleit between the two sections about their hinge esse /1 tion member for themlall, the head of the T. being tubular and Xten ding transversely and rotatable 'into soiclzetsiin the forepart sections withca-m slots for spreading them, and the leg gaging a slot oiithe'T;

of the"? being extensible; there being a fixed'element'on each section en A: shoetree comprising in combination 7 car.

a .foiepart-divided longitudinally into tions, hinged together atthetoe; a heel art at-a distance therefrom, and T-junc ion member {or them all, the headot' the T being tubular and'extending' transversely and rotatablyinto sockets in the torepart sections with cam slots each section engaging saidslots, the'leg of the T' being extensible and comprising a slidable in a sleeve secured to said heel part; there being a spring between said plunger and said sleeve whereby the tree yields with elastic pressure as the heel is swung into a shoe;

e .A shoe treecoinprising a-torepart havforispreading them; a pin in ing sections: hinged at. the "toeand movablv 1 connected at their rear by acylindriczil' shell extending transversely to their plane oi separation having inclined slots in its wall; pins, adapted to coact with the shell, driven from the outside through th sections into said slots, there beinga pin in each section anda slot toreach pin; arod threaded fixedly through said shell atright angles to its axis and extending rearward; a heel part secured to rotate .said shell; the saidrotative move ient being transniuted'by said slots and pins into 'swinging movement, of the -tore- Jart sections about their hin 'o.

5. A shoe tree comprising-a torepart in two wooden block sections hinged at the toe, each having a hole nearfits rear bored outconstituting a socket; a heel part compn' "a portion extending intosaid cleft hfljn V 5: at its end .a cylindrical shell, rotatable within said socketsand having a pair of cani slots n ts wall; and a pin-1n each block section projecting into one of said'slots and coacting therewith to swing the fore-part as the heel part is swung about-theartisott said shell. f

Signed at Brockton, Massachusetts, this eighth day otJuly, 11922. f

onivnnainown 11 :Said rod and swinging therewith. 

